Monday, May 28, 2007

Factotum By Charles Bukowski

‘Factotum’ is a novel by Charles Bukowski with the main character Henry Chinaski who is considered to be Bukowski's alter ego. The author of the novel ‘Factotum’ is the excellent writer who has the ability to create a vivid picture of the event in order to describe everything in great detail and to make the reader see the entire picture. Bukowski masterly illustrates Chinaski’s utter degradation and unwillingness to move on.

‘Factotum’ is a novel, which masterly depicts Braverman's theory concerning ‘essential antagonism’ in the worker / optimum relationship. Factotum denotes 'a person who performs many jobs'. This consultation describes the meaning of the novel’s phrase. The title of the novel is an old word that means a person who is bus with various activities, jobs. Factotum has turn out from the Latin and denotes ‘to do everything’. Consequently, we can actualize that Chinaski’s stint is not purposive. He changes jobs all the time. He can be compared with an unglued that can perform some tasks if it is pliable to.

It is necessary to affliction that work as purposive action, guided by the intelligence, is the special product of humankind. But humankind is itself the special drill of this form of labor. Marx wrote: By accordingly acting on the over world and vital it, he at the same time changes his own nature. Engels pointed out that the hand is not only the diary of labor, it is also the product of labor. ’

In the novel Henry Chinaski receives and loses many jobs. His long conduct via multitudinous jobs is mixed with alcohol drinks, women and sex relationships, as beefy as with writer’s witty remarks and description of Chinaski’s depression. Movement is the activity that transforms the humankind and develops a person. Since, the major character of the novel is able to perform many functions or jobs and he uses his ability and changes his jobs too much. Henry Chinaski does not have the aim in the life – he wittily lives and writes and drinks.

In the novel, Henry Chinaski considers himself to be a good writer. Little by little he sometimes writes. However, mostly he finds the good luck to drink alcohol and to communicate with women who seduce the writer instead of inspiring him to write down great book. It should be pointed out that Henry Chinaski is in constant antagonism with jobs and the life in general. He is forced to work in order to bring off for a living and this is the only reason he is working:

At first we find Henry Chinaski at splintering huge blocks of ice with a jack hammer. His employer comes and asks him to be a driver as he wants Chinaski to work as mich as possible. Henry Chinaski always follows his employers’ orders but he does not yen to do much trouble. Beside all, the major character enters the first beer barrier having left the truck open. His employer finds him in the bar and fires him. Henry Chinaski have had many jobs: he was driving taxi, selling spare parts for a bicycle, boxing brake shoes, sweeping out a comic book metier, dusting off a giant simulacre, and therefore on. However, he does not perform his work well and loses every job he gets. Henry Chinaski wanders from one city to supplementary, changing jobs outright the time. He just gets fired from all of them for drinking and not performing his exertion in a proper way. Chinaski’s link with his bosses is essentially antagonistic as his gaffer wants to get as much work done as possible while Henry Chinaski tries to do as little as possible to not be really into.

Summarizing, ‘Factotum’ confirms Braverman's theory about naysaying relationships between the worker and the cool. ‘Factotum’ is a typical story of a man who continues dragging out a sad existence. Chinaski is a writer who risks his life man-sized many jobs and other activities in order to find poetry and sense in two opposite extremes of feeling the life – joy and sadness.